Drag Me To Hell
2009Dir. Sam Raimi
When loan officer Christine Brown (Alison Lohman) is ordered by her boss to 'toughen up' if she ever wants to get a promotion, she begrudgingly decides to get assertive: with the wrong person. Mrs Ganush, an elderly gypsy woman, applies for a third extension on her mortgage; Christine turns her down and inadvertently humiliates her. Mrs Ganush places a nasty curse on Christine that will culminate in her being dragged off to hell in three days. Over the next few days Christine’s life is turned inside out by demonic forces intent on torturing her before pulling her down to burn in hell for all eternity... Can she find a way to stop them before its too late?
When Ain’t It Cool News described Drag Me To Hell as a ‘juggernaut’, they really weren’t lying. While not particularly scary, this film is the cinematic equivalent of a roller-coaster. The jumps and shocks come so thick and fast that quite often you don’t have time to fully recover before the next one comes along and you’ve been reduced to a shuddering, popcorn covered wreck. The scares, while calculated, still blast off the screen without mercy. Whether it’s with the sudden sharp shocks of abrupt music cues, or simply the swelling of Christopher Young’s atmospheric score to immense and ear-splitting proportions whilst coinciding with clever editing and deceptively unannounced imagery, it never fails to deliver cattle-prod-to-the-face jolts.
Drag Me To Hell has a similar feel to Raimi’s Evil Dead films; it’s darkly comic, yet insanely shocking and filled to the brim with grotesque visuals and macabre playfulness. While at times it has a distinct tongue-in-cheek vibe, everyone still plays it fairly straight, which often results in moments of nervous laughter. The splashy gross factor of Evil Dead is present here too in the many scenes where the gypsy woman vomits all manner of disgustingness over Christine; usually into her screaming mouth. Outrageous, and at times quite atmospheric, it's over the top and wickedly humorous entertainment, with just the right amount of juvenile glee so as not to become too disturbing. The darkly cartoonish violence is highlighted in one scene that features an anvil conveniently suspended above the nasty Mrs Ganush, just crying out to be dropped on her. There is also some morbidly humorous business involving a cute kitten and the need for a sacrifice of appeasement…
The usual Raimi-esque traits are all present and correct: the constantly moving, at times utterly deranged camera work, the yellow 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 that appears in all of his films and a cameo by Ted Raimi. All the while he treads that ever so fine line between comedy and horror so gracefully. Alas, Bruce Campbell is nowhere to be found, but you can’t have everything.
The film does falter slightly towards the end when things become quite predictable. A scene featuring a séance culminates in some creepy Deadite-style possession shenanigans and there is some nasty business in a graveyard that attempts to disguise the inevitable ‘twist’ to come involving a button from a jacket. This however does not sully the enjoyment, or suspense, and in the end it resembles a sort of extended Tales from the Crypt/Twilight Zone morality tale of terror. As Christine, Alison Lohman is likable and totally convincing throughout. She is initially introduced as shy and socially awkward, unable to stand up for herself and embarrassed by her working class, rural upbringing. By the film’s close though, she has made the transition to kicking ass and taking no bullshit from anyone, without losing any of the substance that makes her such a fully formed character and so likeable. Lohman’s performance ensures we root for Christine to survive the horrors invading her life, right up until the inevitable final moment. She is supported by a strong cast including Justin Long as her boyfriend. As the horrible Mrs Ganush, Lorna Raver is suitably deranged.
Drag Me To Hell is a Spiderman-budgeted Evil Dead-like fright-fest, that managed to blast this hardened, rum-filled reviewer out of his own skin more than a few times throughout its running time.
